


The Voice of Experience

by misura



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Agent Carter References, M/M, Steve Rogers is Not a Virgin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 19:10:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18146243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "If you're not too busy, I thought you might take me to bed."





	The Voice of Experience

Howard had been sort of dozing off a bit while working on some tricky formulas. He felt he was on the verge of a break-through, and that if he went to bed now, he'd need to start from scratch tomorrow.

Admittedly, he'd been feeling like that for close to two days, going on three now.

"Mr Stark?"

As such, his first thought at having Steve show up was that he'd fallen asleep and was now dreaming. The fact that Steve looked like he'd come tumbling out of someone else's bed helped.

"Captain Rogers." On the other hand, Howard still felt tired and a bit frustrated, which led him to conclude that Steve was probably real, even if he almost certainly hadn't come tumbling out of anyone else's bed. "Trouble? Anything I can do to help?"

Howard wished he'd prioritized his Midnight Oil research. It would have come in handy right about now, although even as tired as he was, Howard reckoned he still knew how to fly a plane.

"Please. Steve." Steve smiled.

Howard told himself that if that smile looked like an invitation, it only meant that he had moved on from fantasizing about Steve in his dreams to fantasizing about Steve while (mostly) awake. Not a good thing, although at least he was aware of the problem.

"Steve," Howard said. His voice sounded a bit husky, although Steve seemed to hear nothing unusual.

Steve nodded and smiled at him a bit more, as if he'd only come here to tell Howard to call him by his first name instead of his rank.

Howard decided that whatever trouble had arisen, it wasn't urgent. Things seemed pretty quiet outside, too; not the kind of commotion he'd expect to hear in case of a sudden new development.

"Anything I can help you with, Steve?" Howard stared at his notebook and realized he had no idea what he'd been working on. He sighed and ripped out the page, tossing it into the special, burn-before-reading waste basket. "Whatever you need, I'm all yours."

Steve grinned. "Good. I was kind of hoping you'd say that."

Howard's imagination insisted on making that sound a lot dirtier than Steve'd intended it. Honestly, Howard almost felt embarrassed. It hadn't been that long since the last time he'd found a nice-looking soldier with a modicum of discretion and a mutual interest in automobiles.

True, no ordinary soldier even came close to looking like Steve, or smiling like Steve, but then, Howard had assured himself that when it came to sex, he preferred experienced partners. Which Steve wasn't.

"Were you?" Howard asked. Not his wittiest repartee ever, he had to admit.

Steve shrugged. "If you're not too busy, I thought you might take me to bed."

Auditory hallucinations were a bad sign. A very bad sign. Howard wondered what had happened. Maybe the coffee? He'd drunk a fair bit of it after his personal supply had run out: disgusting stuff, but it had seemed to get the job done, so he'd put in some extra milk and sugar and tried not to pay too much attention to the taste.

"Sorry," he said, "I don't think I caught that."

Steve frowned. "You all right?" He came a bit closer, like he worried Howard was going to fall over right then and there. For one mad moment, Howard was tempted. He'd get Steve's arms around him, maybe even be carried to his bedroll.

"I'm fine," Howard said quickly. "Peachy. A bit tired of looking at numbers all day, is all."

"So, bed?" Steve sounded hopeful.

Howard sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Probably a good idea. I just feel like the answer's staring me right in the face, you know? If only I work on it a little longer, I know I can solve this."

"I remember what that's like," Steve said.

"You _remember_?"

Steve's expression turned a bit sheepish. "I don't really get tired anymore. I mean, I take naps and stuff, and I get a bit peckish from time to time, but that's it."

"Lucky you." Howard should probably write that down somewhere. He'd designed the process, and yet somehow, he'd never imagined the outcome being someone like Steve.

"It comes in handy sometimes," Steve said. "Other times, not so much."

Howard made some half-hearted attempt to clean up. He didn't normally, but with Steve watching, he wanted to look like a responsible, mature person who cleaned up after himself. "Like when?"

"I like to cuddle," Steve said. "After - well, after."

"After what?" Howard asked. He had collected about a dozen empty coffee cups and realized that other than putting them all together, he had no idea what to do with them.

"Sex." Steve grimaced. "I know it's kind of silly."

Howard gave up on the coffee cups. By the sound of it, he had far bigger problems to worry about. "You like cuddling," he said, by way of an experiment. Leaving off the 'after sex' part seemed the smart thing to do, in view of recent evidence suggesting both auditory and visual hallucinations.

"It gets a little - " Steve gestured. "When you're still awake and kind of ready for round two, and the other guy starts snoring. And you're sort of lying there, not wanting to leave because that would be rude, but at the same time, well."

"You didn't really get there to listen to some other guy snore," Howard said. "I hear you, pal."

Steve nodded, looking relieved. "I don't want to make anyone feel bad. I mean, it's not their fault, is it? It's mine. I'm the one who's different."

"Nothing wrong with being different. Take it from me." Howard tried very hard not to think too much about what they were talking about here, about people who weren't Howard getting to fall asleep on Steve. About people who weren't Howard putting their hands all over Steve, getting him all worked up and ready for round two and then checking out.

"You're a good friend, Mr Stark," Steve said. "I really appreciate you doing this."

"What, listening?" Howard shrugged. "No problem. I needed someone to come and tell me to call it a night, anyway. You did me a favor. Oh, and it's Howard. Please. I insist."

"To be honest, Howard, I was kind of hoping you'd do more than listen," Steve said. "Of course, if you're too tired, that's fine. Maybe another time? I'm sure there's someone else still awake I could ask."

"I'm ... not too tired?" Howard tried, mostly to see what would happen. He still found it hard to believe that they were talking about - that _Steve_ was talking about -

Steve kissed him. Not some quick peck, the kind you could write off as a friendly kiss on the cheek or something. This was more of a full-body contact experience, with a hint of tongue that made Howard feel like maybe Steve had done this a couple times more often than Howard had, which was absurd.

"Great. You done here?"

Howard's knees felt a bit wobbly. "Yeah. Guess I am."

Steve kissed him again, and Howard decided that with a bit of luck, he wouldn't need to worry about falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. The way this was going, they would never make it that far.


End file.
